As an example, the Cleaning Coalition of America (CCA) represents the nation’s largest facility cleaning companies. In addition to providing jobs, member companies serve an essential function in communities across the country by keeping businesses, schools, places of worship, public buildings and other organizations in operation. The CCA companies employ more than a million people and estimate that fully 10% of its positions are unfilled. Those unfilled jobs represent unmet needs across the nation.

At the same time that the country is suffering from a workforce shortage, there are millions of legally admitted migrants, able and willing to work. Unfortunately, federal law prevents these migrants — who were allowed into the country through Title 8, which governs humanitarian asylum requests —  from working for the first six months they are in the country. There are hundreds of thousands of these law-abiding migrants in the U.S.: More than half of the migrants encountered by federal agents at the U.S. southern border from October 2022 through March 2023 were processed under Title 8, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

While there are differing perspectives in the larger immigration debate, we believe that people legally admitted into the United States should be allowed to work. That is, after all, the history of this country.

The consequences of the law prohibiting legal migrants from working have been wholly destructive. State and local budgets are strained, social services agencies are under siege, and migrants are sleeping in police stations and other public buildings. With no alternative, legal migrants often turn to the underground economy, working with unscrupulous operators who break all laws.

In Chicago, more than 9,000 migrants have arrived since August, according to news reports. Shelters are full with long waiting lists and volunteers struggle to alleviate the humanitarian crisis. Able-bodied individuals, willing to work and contribute to the economy, are sleeping in police stations and on the street. Taxpayers are also harmed by the no-work policy: The new state budget allocates $42.5 million to provide services statewide and the Chicago City Council approved another $51 million for migrant care.

The CCA supports efforts to expedite work authorizations for those who are legally in the country. While the U.S. allows immediate work permits for individuals from certain countries like Afghanistan, the program should be expanded to include all the law-abiding migrants who want only to work, protect loved ones and contribute to the country.

As an association committed to following the law and ridding the industry of illegal operators, we welcome employees with the same values. Legal migrant workers can play important roles in our companies, in our communities and in our economy. The puzzle pieces fit together — we just need to put them in place.

Paul Taylor is president of the Chicago-based Building Service Contractors Association International, which is a member of the CCA.